


Going For The Heart

by QuoteIntangible



Category: Free!
Genre: And Taking Things Too Far, Angst with a Happy Ending, Because the timeline doesn't match up with High Speed!, M/M, Nagisa's got balls, One-Sided Matsuoka Rin/Tachibana Makoto, Sexual Content that has Dubious Consent, Slight Canon Divergence, boys being stupid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-06
Updated: 2015-03-06
Packaged: 2018-03-16 13:43:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3490472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuoteIntangible/pseuds/QuoteIntangible
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rin has always managed to lure Haru into these stupid challenges and competitions, but it seems like Makoto is always the one paying the price for it. Makoto forgives them easily every time, but when their newest competition goes too far, Rin and Haru may have finally done the one thing Makoto cannot forgive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Going For The Heart

It starts on a Saturday, at Makoto’s 12th birthday party, when a silly little comment ignites a spark that turns into a blaze of jealousy that lasts for far too long.

“You know, Makoto likes me better."

Haru doesn’t deign to answer, because honestly who does Rin think he is? Makoto is his best-friend. They’ve know each other since they were babies. They can have an entire conversation without actually talking. Though admittedly, he didn’t necessarily want to, Haru did know every single one of Makoto’s fears, all of his favorites things, and all the things he disliked (because Makoto could never hate anything). And though he found it quite irritating at times, Makoto knew everything there was to know about Haru even if he didn’t have to say anything. There is no way Makoto likes Rin better than him.

But Rin is smirking at him like he knows something Haru does not. “I _am_ the fun one after all. You’re about as friendly and sociable as a spider.”

“So,” Haru says and shrugs. So what if he prefers not to talk to the other kids, their age or not. So what if he’s not exactly Mr. Popular and prefers to stay home or go swimming than ‘hang out’ or whatever else it is kids do. That doesn’t make him ‘not fun’ to be around, does it?

“So, I’m just saying I am a joy to be around, and you’re, well…not.”

Haru glares at him, nostrils flaring briefly, before turning his head away with a huff. “At least I’m not a loudmouthed idiot.”

“And at least I’m not a stubborn, water obsessed freak.” Things are getting a bit too heated. If Makoto were with them right now, instead of playing a game with his siblings and Nagisa on the other side of the room, he would surely step in, stopping this petty argument before it escalated. But Makoto is blissfully unaware of the fire roaring to life just a few feet away from him. “Just face it Haru. I’m better than you. At everything.”

Haru scoffs in reply. As if, Rin, keep dreaming.

“You don’t believe me?”

Well duh, he thinks, as he rolls his eyes. Normally he doesn’t let other people’s opinions bother him, but for some reason Rin has really dug under his skin and settled there like a parasite. It’s annoying.

“All right then. I challenge you to a, a hot sauce drinking challenge,” Rin exclaims loud enough that Haru is surprised no one else heard it. “Whoever taps out first loses. Then we’ll see who’s better.”

“I accept,” Haru says, narrowing his eyes.

They head into the kitchen, Rin dumping the contents of the hottest sauce he could find in the fridge, something called Habanero Hot Sauce, into two cups.

“Ready? On three. One, two, three.”

They both take a big gulp of their ‘drinks’ and immediately regret it. Haru feels like he just swallowed a huge gulp of salt water that was chock-full of rocks that are scraping across his tongue and throat as he swallows. Rin kind of feels like he’s dying. Neither is willing to back down, though.

“Okay, again,” Rin’s manages to say in a raspy voice. On three, they take another sip. Haru feels like someone placed a pool of acid in his mouth that is trickling down his throat and settling in his stomach. Rin kind of feels like puking, but still neither is willing to admit defeat.

Rin starts fanning himself with his free hand, as Haru pants, willing the burn to go away with the power of his mind.

“What is going on?” Makoto asks. They both startle. Haru’s cup slips from his fingers, falling to the floor and splashing across the wood, but Rin’s goes flying when he jumps at the intrusion. The cup heads in an arc straight towards Makoto, hitting him in the face, splashing the burning hot Habanero sauce all over his skin.

There is a moment of silence that is shattered when Makoto shrieks, “Oh God, it burns. It burns!”

Mr. Tachibana is at Makoto’s side in an instant, placing a hand on the back of Makoto's neck and holding his face under the cool spray of water in the sink as he washes the liquid off as quickly as possible. He has Makoto pop out his contacts, before guiding his face back under the spray and insisting he wash his burning eyes out. Rin and Haru stand rooted to the spot, starring at each other in horror.

They get quite the lecture from Mr. Tachibana after they watch their red faced friend get led away by his mother. He says he knows they’re almost teenagers, and that boys their age do stupid things, but in no certain terms are they to challenge each other to something that stupid again. How he knew it was a challenge, neither knew, but they both agree with a nod of their head.

Their promise to Makoto’s father does not last very long.

They’re running home from swim practice not long after when it happens again.

They stop at a store on the way home to get popsicles, or in Nagisa’s case, the biggest ice cream he can find. Haru and Makoto split a popsicle. It’s nothing new, but Haru can feel Rin’s eyes boring into his back. Haru’s not entirely sure why.

When they get outside, Rin is still staring at him.

“Race you to the top of the hill.”

Haru ignores him. Racing sounds like too much effort.

“You don’t want to see who’s faster?” Rin goads Haru on. “You’re such a freak.”

There’s that word again. Freak. The thing people at school whisper to each other when he walks by. There are very few people in his life that have never called him that word. Makoto is one of them.

He never wants to hear Makoto call him that. If that means racing Rin to top of the hill to prevent that from happening, so be it.

Haru learns two very important things from the race that follows. The first being that he is not as fast on land as he is in the water, nowhere even close. The second being, that when one is racing on the streets, they should really pay attention to their surroundings. It’s something he learns the hard way. The same for Rin too.

Determined to win, they both dash into a street half way up the hill. They're forced to briefly stop when a food truck blocks their path. A second later panic glues Haru’s feet to the pavement when a car honks at him and hurtles to his position. Rin’s right there with him, and though tires squeal as the car lurches to a stop, Haru knows it won’t stop soon enough. They are going to be hit if they don’t move right now. But he just can’t get his feet to respond.

Makoto’s chasing after his friends seconds after he sees them take off. It’s going to be like the hot sauce all over again and somehow these two are going to end up hurting themselves, he just knows it. He thought at first this weird rivalry was strictly a water thing, but it started to bleed over into the rest of their lives and he doesn’t know why. He’s just a little bit jealous that Rin can get a rise out of Haru when he can barely get his best-friend to respond half the time.

He tries to not feel left out as he runs after them. Someone has to be there to make sure they don’t injure themselves, after all. And it’s a good thing he’s there too. He arrives at the scene just in time to see both Haru and Rin frozen in place as a car hurtles towards them. It’s not slowing down quick enough. They’re going to get run over. He has to do something.

It takes mere seconds to reach them, and that’s all the time he has to decide what to do. He pushes Haru out of the way first, then grabs Rin in a bear hug, spins them around and vaults for the curb.

Pain stabs him in the right knee and it’s worse than anything he’s ever felt before. The agony shoots up his leg and explodes across his eyes in little flashes of white. He curls in on himself, cradling his leg carefully in his hands. Nausea roils around his stomach like driftwood in the sea. He tries to breathe through the pain, but it’s overwhelming. Then there are hands on him, and he screams.

Haru hits the ground hard, skinning the palms of his hands and his knees on the ground. Despite the blood running from his knees, he’s up in a flash. He hears someone say, “Call an ambulance,”  and then a wet, ragged, scream.  That…that was Makoto screaming.

Makoto is lying curled on the ground, shaking and crying. Rin’s hands hovering over him and there is absolute terror etched on his face. Nagisa’s there too, yelling, “What did you do?” to Rin. He thinks Nagisa is yelling at him as well.

“Don’t touch him,” Rin says as Haru kneels next to him. He wouldn’t know what to do, so he doesn’t. He wants to hold Makoto’s hand, tell him he’s there, that everything will be okay. With how hard Makoto is crying, he doesn’t think the younger boy will hear him anyways.

The paramedics whisk Makoto away, leaving him and Rin behind with the bone crushing guilt that they did this. This was on them.

They find out later Makoto’s knee cap is broken. He’ll need surgery, a cast, and therapy. But no matter how many times Rin and Haru tell him they’re sorry, it doesn’t change the fact that Makoto’s knee will never be the same again. And he’ll never be quite as fast as he could be in the water because of it.

Makoto easily (too easily) accepts their apologies on the condition they never compete again.

They easily (too easily) accept.

It’s a promise neither can keep.

**

Rin leaves for Australia shortly after and when he returns, aside from swimming, their rivalry doesn’t start back up right away. Even Nagisa is hoping it _never_ starts back up again. But then the race at Regionals happens. They’re friends once more, and Rin starts feeling things he never thought he’d feel again, that he was praying he would never feel again. Teenage hormones don’t work on wishes, though. They do whatever your dick wants you too. 

They’re hanging out for the first time in a very long time at a restaurant that Haru only agreed to go to because they sold fish. It’s just like old times, except for the addition of Rei and Aiichirou. When he sees Makoto lean over to whisper something in Haru’s ear, he feels the snake he long thought dead, uncoil and slither around in his stomach. Rin plops down on the other side of Makoto and throws an arm around the tall teen’s shoulders. He still can’t believe how tall Makoto got, but it suits him.

Haru predictably glares at him. He grins at the water obsessed teen and flicks Haru’s ear with the hand around Makoto’s shoulders. “Hey freak, wanna see who can eat the most sushi?”

“Not this again, guys,” Makoto groans. “You promised.”

Haru narrows his eyes, ignoring his best-friend. “You’re on.”

Haru never thought eating fish could make him puke. But he wasn’t willing to give in to Rin and this is the consequence. He simply could not put another piece of sushi in his mouth. It would not fit. Rin raises his hands victoriously in the air. Haru’s too sick to care.

Makoto notices the way the color drains from his face and recognizes it for what it is. “You need some fresh air. It’ll help,” Makoto says as he hauls Haru to his feet and leads him outside. Without warning, Haru doubles over and pukes all over the sidewalk and unfortunately Makoto’s shoes.

Makoto leaves him long enough to tell their friends they are leaving, before he’s helping Haru cobble home, as patient as always, but maybe not understanding. Haru’s too afraid to tell him what it’s really all about.

“Haru,” Makoto says when they reach Haru’s front door. Makoto bites his lip, hesitates, and searches for the right words. They don’t come. “Please don’t do this again.” It’s too painful to watch.

Haru nods in assent, but can’t stick to his word anymore than he could the last time he promised. When Rin challenges him again, he accepts without hesitation. There are many (too many) challenges after the sushi eating contest, all of which Haru accepts. One of them ends up with Makoto taking the fall for them and having to clean up the mess the two of them made in the cafeteria at Rin's school. Makoto also ends up with a rather spectacular black eye when Rin challenges Haru to a soccer match, though neither really knows how to play.

Neither Rin nor Haru really notice just how much this stupid thing between them is affecting Makoto. But Nagisa does.

“You two have got to stop,” Nagisa says one day when they are hanging out at the mall. Rei and Gou are distracting Makoto so he doesn’t overhear. “Seriously enough is enough. Both of you just go ask him out and see who he says yes too.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” Rin says.

“Yeah, me either.” Haru shrugs.

“However,” Rin says and his smile turns devilish. “That does give me an idea. A competition, for Makoto’s attention.”

“Guys, that is not what I meant,” Nagisa interjects.

“For the next week, both of us will try everything we can to spend time with Makoto. At the end of the week, the person who spends the most time with him wins. Not including the time you guys walk to and from school together,” Rin adds before Haru can speak.

“Makoto will be mad if he finds out. He wouldn’t like it if you did this to him,” Nagisa, surprisingly the voice of reason right now, says.

Haru agrees with Nagisa. This is a terrible idea and someone is going to end up hurt. But then Rin says, “What do you say, freak?”

“You’re on.”

It starts on a Monday.

“Makoto, come over, after school.” He glances at his friend, completely unaware of the blush on his own face.

“Sorry, Haru. I promised Rin I’d hang out with him tonight. Do you want to come?”

That’s against the rules Rin insisted upon. If Makoto has already agreed to hang out with one of them, the other cannot intrude. That sneaky bastard. When did Rin even have time to ask Makoto out? “No, that’s okay. Tomorrow then?”

“Uh, sure, Haru,” Makoto says. The confused look on his face is positively adorable. He turns away before Makoto can see his blush, but he’s more determined than ever not to lose this challenge to Rin.

Sunday morning rolls around and there is no clear victor. Despite the seven day stretch of time they decided upon for this challenge, each has spent exactly three days with a confused, and somewhat worried, Makoto. The seventh day, Friday, was spent at Nagisa’s watching movies after the blonde insisted. Both Rin and Haru were blackmailed into attending or risk having their little competition exposed.

“It’s a draw,” Haru says, though neither teen is happy with the outcome.

“I guess we’re just gonna have to fix that.” Rin lures Makoto into their competition, with a text that reads: _Wanna hang out with me and Haru at his place?_

His phone chimes a second later with a reply.

_Sure! I’ll be right there._

“Makoto is on his way here.” Rin smirks at the other teen. They are going to end this once and for all. “New challenge, first person to make him hard, wins.”

“Rin, no,” he starts, voice just a little higher than usual. This is a bad idea. It’s worse than bad, so bad in fact that Haru doesn’t have a word for it. Rin should know better and this is quite possibly the worst idea the idiot has ever had. But then the doorbell is ringing and Rin’s at the door and he can’t stop what happens next.

“Makoto, so glad you could make it.” Rin leans his weight on the doorframe, his best ‘come hither’ look plastered on his face. But then he thinks _fuck_ _it_ as he grabs Makoto’s shirt and pulls him down into a kiss. He back pedals into the room, lips glued to Makoto’s, as he pulls the taller teen with him.

Makoto pulls away from him, titling his head like he usually does, except this time his smile isn't as warm and inviting as usual. “Rin…” Makoto looks pained, he looks sad, he looks upset, and yeah, deep down Rin knows what that means, but he ignores it. He presses Makoto backwards until the taller teen's back is against the door and sticks his hand down Makoto's pants. Haru appears next to them, standing just out of reach, hands held uselessly up by his shoulders, his mouth opening and closing soundlessly, gaping like the fish he loves so much.

But then he’s on Makoto too, popping the button on Makoto’s pants and pulling them down to his knees. Haru’s hesitates then, his hand moving forward towards Makoto's dick, but coming up short and pulling away. Haru's the first to really look at Makoto. Something passes between them, something Rin doesn't understand. It makes that snake in his stomach lash out, striking at whatever's closest. Rin rubs Makoto's dick harder through the fabric of his underwear. Makoto isn’t all that hard, so Rin decides to speed things up a little. He grows bold (too bold), sticks his finger in his mouth, slicks it up with spit, fumbles around a little for the right angle and then pushes it into himself. He's fingered himself before, so it's no big deal, right?

For one blessed moment, everything is all right, and then Makoto whispers, “Stop, Rin I can't.”  

Haru reacts like he’s just been slapped, immediately pulling further away from Makoto. Rin’s just fine with keeping his position.

“Please, get off me,” Makoto says quietly, but it's tinged with panic and desperation. “Get off.”

He slides off of Makoto and glides to his feet. This time, he really looks at his friend. Maybe he should have noticed sooner the way Makoto’s shoulders shook and his chest heaved, but not with pleasure, more like barely restrained panic. And maybe he should have noticed sooner that Makoto’s eyes were wet with unshed tears.

He risks a glance at Haru. He looks horrified, eyes wide, lower lip trembling, _what have I done_ practically screaming from his slightly parted lips. It is the most emotion Rin has ever seen Haru display. 

“I, I told you this was a bad idea,” Haru says, his voice shaky. Haru starts to tremble next to him, his breathing speeding up. Rin doesn’t quite understand what everyone is freaking out about.

“This was just another one of your stupid competitions?” Makoto asks, his voice unrecognizable, thick with some unnamed emotion. Deep down, Rin knows what that emotion is, but he doesn’t want to believe that _he_ was capable of making someone feel that way, so he ignores it.

Makoto refuses to look at either of them. His eyes are hidden behind his fringe and for a moment, no one moves, no one answers the question, Makoto hasn’t even pulled up his pants yet.

And then, quicker than the Flash, Makoto is on his feet and rushing towards the door, still buttoning his pants as he runs out of there.

Rin looks at Haru. Neither understand how things spun so far out of their control.

“Uh, what just happened?” Rin asks, pointing at the still open door in confusion. And maybe he does understand, but maybe he just isn’t willing to admit it.

“Shit,” Haru exhales in a voice far to shaky still. It’s the first time he’s ever heard Haru swear, the first time he’s ever seen Haru lose his cool. “Shit, we fucked up. We fucked up so bad.”

“We’ll just go apologize.” Rin tries to shrug it off, but a terrible, rotten feeling is starting to settle in his stomach. It feels like he just drank sour milk.

“That’s not going to work this time,” Haru says, staring at the door with pleading eyes.

It all ends on a Sunday.  

**

Makoto doesn’t show up in his bathroom the next day. There is no hand there to help him out of the water, no comfortable presence there to share his breakfast, no one to walk to school with. The hollow feeling that punched through his chest like an arrow hasn’t gone away yet. Haru’s not sure it ever will.

Makoto doesn’t show up to school at all. And whatever Haru expected, this is worse. For Makoto to flat out skip school because he cannot look at him…he shudders at what that might mean.

The shaky, panicked feeling that has his heart racing and his limbs shaking has not left him since the incident yesterday. Even his body knows what his brain is still refusing to admit.

“What did you do to Makoto?” Nagisa, in a rare show of anger, snaps at him during lunch on the roof.

“I…”

“What did you do?” Nagisa punctuates every word. Rei is a solid, angry presence next to Nagisa, arms crossed as he glares at Haru too.

“Rin and I…”

“Oh, I see. Another one of your stupid challenges.”

Haru can’t refute it, so he falls back onto his usual defense mechanism and turns his head away, pretending not to care, pretending not to listen. But Nagisa barrels on, each word like a vacuum to the ocean.

“Makoto always gets hurt because of this stupid rivalry you have going on with Rin, always.”

“That’s not true,” the words blurt out of his mouth before he can stop them.

“Who broke his knee saving you and Rin in middle school? Who got puked on? Who got hot sauce dumped on his face? Who had to clean up the cafeteria?”

He briefly considers walking away from Nagisa, but God he really deserves this. Ever since this competition began with Rin, not once did they ever consider Makoto’s feelings.

“He’s always forgiven the two of you so easily. But you really messed up this time.”

“Do you know?” he asks, wondering how much Makoto told Nagisa.

“Don’t worry,” Nagisa scoffs. “Makoto didn’t tell me anything, but the fact that he was crying on the phone when I talked to him this morning, and that he’s not in school right now, is a dead giveaway.”

Haru’s not sure how he messed up this badly. Why is it that Rin is always able to rile him up like that? Why did he always go along with his stupid ideas?

_Because of Makoto._

Yeah, because of Makoto. The real thing they’ve been fighting over this whole time.

“Are you going to fix it?” Nagisa asks.

“I don’t know if I can.”

“Well try, at least,” Nagisa huffs and then walks away with Rei on his heels.

**

“I’m sorry,” Makoto’s mother says when Haru and Rin knock on the Tachibana’s door. It’s Monday and Makoto won’t answer a call from either of them. “He doesn’t want to see either of you right now. Give it a few days,” she says to cure their heartbroken look on their faces. “Maybe he’ll come around.”

Makoto has never refused to see either of them before. Haru wonders just how shattered their relationship is now.

Rin is refusing to feel guilty about it, but failing miserably. 

“I told you it wasn’t going to work,” Haru says, but he doesn’t sound angry, just defeated as they walk to the beach.

“Well then what are we supposed to do, huh?” Rin snaps.

Haru collapses onto the sand. He knows Makoto better than anyone. Rin doesn’t quite understand how badly they messed up, but Haru does.  “I don’t think there is anything we _can_ do. Not this time.”

Rin plops down in the sand next to Haru and buries his face in his hands. He thinks Rin might be crying.

“You’re right,” Rin says and he can’t ignore it anymore. For everyone’s sake, Rin has to admit defeat. “There is nothing _we_ can do. But there is something you can do.”

“Rin…”

“No, listen. Our first challenge, when we were 12 years old, I think even then we were both competing for Makoto’s attention. But no matter who won, you won the real challenge every time.”

“That’s not true.”  _Nobody likes a freak like him..._ _  
_

“When we almost got hit by that car, it was you he pushed out of the way first. After the sushi challenge, it was you he dragged home and let puke on him.”

“That’s only because I live next door to him.”

“God, Haru, you are so dense,” Rin growls in frustration. “Makoto likes _you_. Not me, not anyone else, but _you._ ”

“Did he tell you that?” Haru asks. He’s looking away from Rin, playing with the sand in front of him, not daring to hope just yet.

“No, but it’s pretty obvious. And I think I’ve always known and I’ve always been jealous. I wanted Makoto to care about me the way he cared about you and that’s why I kept dragging you into these stupid challenges. But he’s never going to,” Rin finally admits. It hurts, but he at least knows he’s doing the right thing finally. “It has to be you, Haru. You have to go to him now and make him understand.”

**

Cornering Makoto alone is harder than Haru thought it would be.  He doesn’t show up to school for three days after _it_ happened, but when he does, he does everything in his power to avoid Haru. He shows up to class late, leaves the second the bell rings, disappears during lunch, and then goes home without him. Finally, Haru has to beg.

“Makoto, we need to talk. Please,” he pleads to his voicemail. It’s the only one he's left, but the tenth time he’s tried. It’s the closest he’s gotten to Makoto in days.

It’s Thursday when they meet on the roof.

Makoto will not look at him. “I’ve always liked you, Haru,” Makoto launches right in, without giving Haru a chance to speak. “But I wanted to do things right, you know? I didn’t want it to happen like that. I wanted to love you first. And you didn't even...you didn't even care.”

“You still can,” he blurts out, painfully aware of how close to pleading it sounds. _Please, I want to fix this. I do care. I like you, too._  

“Can I?” Makoto’s huff of laughter was bitter and sad and something Haru hates himself for making him feel that way.

“Makoto….” How does he make Makoto understand? He’s never been very good at explaining things, that’s why he’s always cherished Makoto as a friend. He’s never _had_ to explain things before. His best friend has always just known. “It wasn’t just a competition. None of it was.”

“I, I don’t understand.”

“The race, the sushi, the hot sauce, it was all because of you.”

“You can’t blame this on me, Haru.”

“I’m not blaming it on you.” He’s aware of how high his voice has risen. Though it’s barely louder than Nagisa’s indoor voice, for him it’s yelling. “I’m saying Rin and I did all that stupid stuff cuz we were really competing for you.”

“I know you were competing for me, you guys practically….”

He shakes his head because Makoto isn’t getting it, but Haru is shit at explaining things. “Not then. The entire time.”

“Haru, what are you saying?”

“I’m saying I like you, that I do...care. And Rin does too. He challenged me to all those stupid things because he thought if he won you would notice him, and I accepted because I wanted you to like me. I wanted you to think I was worthy of being your boyfriend. I didn’t want you to think I was a freak.”

Makoto is silent and he doesn't look at Haru. For a moment, Haru thinks he isn't going to respond at all. “I could never think you were a freak,” he finally says. 

“I should have known that,” Haru sighs. He knows he has trust issues, but this is Makoto, probably the nicest person on the planet and he would never, could never think of Haru as a freak. That why Haru loves him so much.

“You didn’t have to do all that just to make me like you. You, you could have just told me.” Makoto sounds close to tears, and the not the good kind. Haru's heart sinks. It's starting to settle in that maybe he's finally done the one thing Makoto cannot forgive and he's ruined his chance of ever becoming something more. 

“I know that now. But it’s too late, I’ve gone and messed everything up. I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry Rin and I hurt you. I'm sorry I couldn't stop Rin the other day. I’m sorry you always got hurt because Rin and I were being stupid. I’m just sorry.”

“It’s not too late.” Haru’s too shocked to respond. His heart doesn't just soar, it flies right out of his chest and settles in Makoto's hand. But thankfully Makoto still knows him well enough to know that. “We can still try.”

“Really? O-okay.”

Haru grabs his hand and Makoto doesn’t fight it. Haru is so relieved he actually smiles. He thinks a kiss might be too much to ask for right now, but he really wants to try.

**

Things are awkward between him and Makoto for awhile. For the first time in his life, Makoto does not forgive Rin right away. Though Haru and Makoto started dating right away, Rin knows Haru had a long, uphill battle before he was completely forgiven too. Haru took a lot of advice from Nagisa and Rei in those days. Because both were still kind of pissed at him too, they might have suggested completely ridiculous things for Haru to try, like write mushy poetry or find the biggest stuff cat in town and buy it for Makoto. Surprisingly, Haru did every single one of the outlandish things Rei and Nagisa came up with. It proved just how much Haru wanted to make the relationship work. Makoto eventually realized the effort Haru was putting fort and put a stop to Nagisa’s antics.

Haru later confessed to him that the reason Makoto took so long to come around was because he was scared his new relationship with Haru was still just one of their stupid challenges and that one day Haru was going to tell him it was all just a joke.

Rin feels terrible for making Makoto feel that way, but not quite as terrible as Haru. And that’s what finally made him realize how stupid he was really being this whole time. Haru understood something about Makoto Rin just never did.

He's incredibly grateful that they don't rub it in his face, though he doesn't think either of them really would. When they hang together, both are discrete about their new found relationship. He wishes he could tell them it was okay, that they didn't have to hide around him, but he just can't... Not until Sousuke comes barreling back into his life at least. 

It's nice to have the quiet, confident presence at his side once again. It calms some of the hurt still lingering his chest. It makes him forget about Haru and Makoto for a little while. Then Rin starts thinking with his dick again. 

He's afraid to act on his new found desire, because well, it didn't quite work out so well last time and he's not sure he can handle getting his heart broken again.

But then Sousuke tells him the truth, about his shoulder, about being scouted, but having to turn it down, about really coming back for Rin. He just can't help himself after that. He wants a kiss, and he thinks it might be okay to try. 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a little sorry for writing this. But I am a slave to my story ideas. What you gonna do? I at least tried to make up for the mean things I did to them with the ending. I get brownie points for that, right?
> 
> This is also my first time writing third person omniscient in a very, very long time. I usually write third person limited. So this was an experiment of sorts.


End file.
